JG Ballard archive | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/series/jg-ballard-archive
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JG Ballard: Relics of a red-hot mindhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/04/j-g-ballard-relics-red-hot-mind
Notes for a novel about America, a plan for a children's story, and Crash with an exclamation mark ... Chris Hall finds treasures in the new JG Ballard archive<p>The most surprising thing about the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/whatson/permgall/treasures/newacquisition/index.html" title="">JG Ballard archive</a> at the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/british-library" title="">British Library</a>, which opened for public viewing on Monday, is that there is an archive at all. More or less up to his death in 2009, Ballard, an intensely private man, had given the impression he'd not kept anything relating to his work whatsoever. In an interview in 1982 he even claimed he threw away his manuscripts. "I hate that instant memorialising," he said. "Little shrines erected in some university library around the handkerchief in which Graham Greene blew his nose in 1957."</p><p>In line with his wishes, much of the archive comprises the progress of his texts, which are all here – with a few exceptions – as drafts, manuscripts or typescripts. But there is also plenty of personal and family material: photographs, postcards, faxed interviews. In May I was privileged to have had a sneak preview while it was still being catalogued by the archivist <a href="http://www.rhul.ac.uk/english/newsandevents/newsarticles/chrisbeckettattalkseries.aspx" title="">Chris Beckett</a>, partly because I'm writing a book about Ballard. As it's entirely composed of artefacts – Ballard never owned a computer – perhaps this is the last solely non-digital literary archive of this stature.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/04/j-g-ballard-relics-red-hot-mind">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardScience fictionFictionBooksCultureThu, 04 Aug 2011 08:17:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/aug/04/j-g-ballard-relics-red-hot-mindPhotograph: David Montgomery/Getty ImagesThe least nostalgic of writers ... JG Ballard. Photograph: David Montgomery/Getty ImagesPhotograph: David Montgomery/Getty ImagesThe least nostalgic of writers ... JG Ballard. Photograph: David Montgomery/Getty ImagesChris Hall2011-08-04T08:17:00ZJG Ballard's draft of Empire of the Sun acquired by British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/13/jgballard-british-library-death-duties
The dystopian visionary's manuscript is part of an archive being saved for the nation in order to pay death duties<p>A sketchy handwritten first draft of <em>Empire of the Sun</em> is one of the highlights of the archive of J G Ballard acquired last week by the British Library.</p><p>The original manuscript of the late author's best-known novel, complete with corrections and margin notes, will join the letters, notebooks and school reports that chronicle the life of perhaps the greatest dystopian visionary of the 20th century in a hoard of documents secured for the nation through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/13/jgballard-british-library-death-duties">Continue reading...</a>UK newsSat, 12 Jun 2010 23:04:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/13/jgballard-british-library-death-dutiesPhotograph: Eamonn Mccabe/Eamonn McCabeAuthor JG Ballard at home in Shepperton, London. Photograph: Eamonn MccabePhotograph: Eamonn Mccabe/Eamonn McCabeAuthor JG Ballard at home in Shepperton, London. Photograph: Eamonn MccabeVanessa Thorpe2010-06-12T23:04:41ZVermilion Sands (1971) | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-vermilion-sands
An annotated typescript from Vermilion Sands, a collection of short stories full of 'dreams and illusions, fears and fantasies', according to the author <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-vermilion-sands">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:13:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-vermilion-sandsGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:13:02ZSuper-Cannes (2000) | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-super-cannes
An edited excerpt from one of the author's later novels, Super-Cannes, a corruscating tale that boasts one of the darkest Ballardian endings of all <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-super-cannes">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:12:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-super-cannesGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:12:41ZMiracles of Life (2008) | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-miracles-of-life
A densely reworked page from Ballard's autobiography, detailing his recollections of the Lunghua internment camp, where he lived between 1943 and 1945 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-miracles-of-life">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:12:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-miracles-of-lifeGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:12:25ZCrash (1973) | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-crash
A heavily revised typescript from the novel Crash shows the meticulous nature and sheer labour of the author's writing process. <br /><br />• Two such pages will be on display at <a href="http://www.bl.uk/whatson/permgall/treasures/index.html">an exhibition the Sir John Ritblat gallery</a> from 11 June 2010 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-crash">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:12:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-crashGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:12:02ZLunghua Camp: minutes from a meeting | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-lunghua-minutes
Notes from a prisoners' meeting at the Japanese internment centre outside Shanghai, where a young JG Ballard and his parents spent part of the second world war <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-lunghua-minutes">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:11:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-lunghua-minutesGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:11:44ZEmpire of the Sun (1984) | JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-empire-sun
A handwritten excerpt from Empire of the Sun, possibly the author's most widely read novel, comes complete with reworkings and spelling mistakes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-empire-sun">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBritish LibraryBooksExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:11:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-british-library-empire-sunGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:11:19ZSaved for the nation: JG Ballard at the British Libraryhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-archive-british-library
The British Library's newly acquired JG Ballard archive, a treasure trove of papers and handwritten manuscripts, sheds fresh light on the life and works of one of Britain's most visionary writers<br /><br /><strong>·</strong> Click 'Next' to see more, and to see a map in greater detail, hit the magnify button <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-archive-british-library">Continue reading...</a>JG BallardBooksBritish LibraryExhibitionsMuseumsHeritageCultureTravelThu, 10 Jun 2010 15:10:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/picture/2010/jun/10/jg-ballard-archive-british-libraryGuardian Staff2010-06-10T15:10:47Z